We see that this natural divine law does not require ceremonies ā¦. For the natural light requires nothing which that light itself does not reach, but only that which can indicate to us very clearly the good ā¦ finally, we see that the highest reward of the divine law is the law itself, namely, to know God and to love him from true freedom and with a whole and constant heart.
Spinoza, Ethics, 20, III, 30
The first two chapters address the question: how generationally unique (or not) are hiloni millennials? To answer this question, we must start with terminology and the conceptual debates. What does the term āhiloniā mean? How do scholars use it? How do people who identify with the term use it? Scholars agree that the terminology of Western secularism does not translate for the Jewish-Israeli case. This is because Jewish tradition, a cornerstone of Jewish identity, is a powerful reference point even for those who think they are not halakhically observant.
Before delving into the academic debates about who is hiloni (and who is masorti, a traditional Jew), here is a flavour of how self-identified hilonim, millennials and transitional Generation XY, talk about growing up as hiloni Jews in Israel and their earliest experiences of Jewish tradition in their own words. The themes raised here are not generationally specific. Quotations presented here represent mainstream hiloni narratives about ābecoming hiloniā, in so far as one can speak about there being a mainstream hiloniness in Israel.
To questions about childhood, interlocutors gave answers about food and family ā answers which captured Jewish traditional practice and identity.
Q: | Does everyone in your family do and think the same thing? |
A: | Not at all. Iām descended from a rabbinical family, from Spain and Morocco. Most of my family are traditional secular with a hint of observant ā¦ my dad keeps a few habits for sentimental reasons rather than belief ā¦. Iām avidly secular. (Oren, late twenties, male) |
Q: | What did you think about religion growing up? |
A: | When my brother and my dad would go [to synagogue] I would not. It wasnāt an issue like āyou should comeā. They would just ask me, and I would say no. Itās really boring ā¦. We used to do Pesach, you know, like every Israeli family, Rosh Hashanah, the main holidays. But I never understood [why]. Why should I separate dairy and meat? I think it was my mom, she didnāt really care about it. There was no one who [gave me] a good answer to these questions ā¦. I had a bar mitzvah like any Jewish boy ā¦. I donāt like big events [laughs] there was an issue about it, I wanted a small one, so we met in the middle, in a restaurant. I didnāt go to the synagogue again until a friendās brotherās bar mitzvah. I didnāt know how to put on the tefillin ā¦ some guy had to do it ā¦ it was like putting on, what is the word? The thing to stop the blood? (A tourniquet?) Yes, a tourniquet, thatās how it felt. (Shaul, mid-twenties, male) |
Q: | What did you learn about religion in school? |
A: | As a kid I didnāt get it. You learn about God as a figure in a story. That he does this thing and he gets upset with you, not you individually, but with the Hebrew people, and he does all these miracles. Itās like a story. (Ruth, mid-twenties, female) |
Q: | What did you think about religion growing up? |
A: | There was something about the religious people, you know, the people that wear black, that was very alienating to me. I was very alienated from it even though the city I grew up in was mostly a religious city. But it was completely separate neighbourhoods. I had one friend at the age of 13 from a religious background. We never talked about religion. The army was the first place where I met religious people. I became close to a religious woman, and then during my BA started to make religious friends. Iām not anti-religious. I have friends who are religious, and I do like the rituals. I think with a different partner I might have done the candles or kiddush. I donāt mind. I wouldnāt consider myself an atheist. I donāt believe in God. I donāt believe in the Jewish God. Iām not sure what my belief is. I practise meditation. I have more Buddhist inclinations. So, if I have any inclinations it would be towards some sort of afterlife or continuation and some kind of fate. (Sara, late thirties, female, Generation XY)2 |
Q: | When you were growing up did you believe in God? |
A: | No, not so much. |
Q: | And now? |
A: | Itās still the same. Yesterday we had a visit from my friend, and we started talking about it. No, well, itās not something that guides me. You could always say, yeah, maybe there is something that we donāt understand. We are open-minded people and stuff like that. Never say never. But itās certainly not something that I would say, that I accept that thereās a superior being that has all the answers to the things we donāt know. So, no: no God. (Uri, early forties, male, Generation XY) |
While there are debates and disagreements, researchers broadly agree with the following:
ā¢hiloniness remains a socially elite identity among Jewish-Israelis; it has had a historically disproportionate impact on Jewish-Israeli national identity and practices relative to other āreligious sectorsā in Israel;3
ā¢while hilonim do not strictly observe the halakha as it is interpreted by the Orthodox Rabbinate in Israel, Jewish tradition, through Israeli popular culture, plays a substantial role in everyday hiloni practices and self-identity;4
ā¢hiloni identity and practice overlaps with masorti (traditional) Jewish identity and practice;
ā¢hilonim participate in a politics of boundary-marking with Jews from other āreligious sectorsā in Israel; that this boundary-marking is shaped in important ways by ethnic boundary-marking between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews ā even though a third of hilonim are Mizrahim;5
ā¢strong anti-religious sentiments among hilonim is rare;
ā¢belief in a non-interventionist force (koach elyon) or agnosticism are common beliefs among hilonim, with atheists a small (but, I would add, often overlooked) minority;
ā¢compared to other religious sectors in Israel, hilonim have been disproportionately shaped by non-Jewish ideas and practices. The strongest influences have been state atheism and Orthodox Christianity in the former Soviet Union, Eastern religions and New Age spirituality;
ā¢Western conceptions of secularism do not apply to the Jewish-Israeli case.
It is to this last point that we now turn.
Israel and āsecularismā
In recent years, scholars have quite rightly sought to problematize the idea that the category āsecularā can be applied to life in Israel.6 I very much agree with this project. For example, Ram quotes Asadās point that the āreligiousā cannot be separated from āthe secularā, and that which appears āsecularā reconstitutes the āreligiousā within it.7 Ram argues ...